


Be The One

by turnedherbrain



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Leotilda, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-03 20:32:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17884730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turnedherbrain/pseuds/turnedherbrain
Summary: When you're gone … all the lights go outLeo and Mattie’s reunion after the events of the s3 finale. Predicted scenes for s4 e1





	Be The One

Mattie lay in bed, not sleeping. She’d come back to the house from the all-night search, just in case by some miracle her dad had returned with Soph safe in his arms. But images of Niska’s startling violet eyes and that strongly-worded prophecy intruded; compounded by worry over her mum’s fate; what the hell was happening with Leo, the baby… her family. _Both_ her families, human and synth.

She’d created a temporary fort under the covers to hide away. It was something she’d done as a child, switching on a torch to read and create her own little cocoon as protection from the world. When she got older, she’d decided to confront things head-on. But right now, the childhood comfort of this soft duvet shell gave her momentary peace.

She must have fallen asleep finally, for when she awoke it was to the rat-at-at of the door knocker, hammering with some urgency. Fingers scrabbling for the phone by her bedside, she thumbed the screen and saw ‘4:01’. Near dawn, but still dark.

Groggily reaching for her dressing gown in the early-morning chill, she made her way downstairs. Two shapes, both male, appeared blurrily through the frosted glass. Neither of them the reporter, thank god. It could be other reporters though. She hovered in the hallway, uncertain.

‘Mattie? Are you there? I don’t have a key.’ Leo. It was Leo.

Rushing to open the door, she saw Max with a sleeping Sophie draped in his arms, and Leo, his eyes averted, looking pale and distraught.

‘Come in, come in.’

‘This was the first place we thought to come,’ stammered Leo apologetically, as he hovered in the suddenly-crowded hall, shoulders bowed.

‘Don’t be stupid. It’s your home!’ Mattie reassured him, wanting to hug him so tightly, but still disgruntled at how he unpredictably ran into danger at every opportunity. ‘It’s _both_ your homes,’ she added, looking up at Max, who gave her the warmest smile, despite the awful situation. _Was_ their home really a sanctuary though? In the last week, they’d been intruded upon more than once: by Anatole, by that bloody bitch of a reporter. It wasn’t the safe place Mattie wanted it to be, something that would be made abundantly clear over the next few weeks.

Mattie ushered the small group into the lounge, where Max laid Sophie on the couch and stood sentry over her, the protective older brother. He’d become so much more in the past year, Mattie reflected: a wise friend, a judicious leader, and perhaps, in days to come: a commander. But he still had a core of complete gentleness.

‘Tea?’ Mattie asked.

‘Tea. Yes. Let’s just sit down and have a nice, hot drink. A human way of solving everything,’ replied Leo sarcastically, having slumped into an armchair in the corner. He looked awful. His face was smeared with dirt and dried blood, and those traces were marred with tear-tracks. Seeing him like this, a boy lost in darkness, Mattie went to get a cloth and soak it in warm water. Perching on the side of the chair, she started to wipe away what she could, and when he glanced up at her, the appeal in his eyes was overwhelming. _Don’t,_ she thought, _please_ _don’t._

‘I can take Sophie upstairs to bed,’ murmured Max, aware his presence was extra to requirements. ‘Then I must get back to the others.’

‘I’ll ring dad,’ added Mattie. ‘And thank you for bringing her back, Max. We’ve been searching for her all night, since…’ She didn’t need to add, since we realised that Sophie had run to Mia’s procession, regardless of her young age and the time of night. It was a child’s response: one of utter devotion and utter grief.

Max nodded and smiled at Mattie again. She’d draw so much strength from Max’s smile in the next few days, before his group departed to a safe haven in Norway. When he left, he would bow his head to touch foreheads and whisper to her: ‘There is more conflict to come, Mattie. Look after Leo. I cannot.’

The early-risen sun was creeping in round the curtains now, creating lines of light. Leo had collapsed into himself on the armchair, so Mattie put their brewed drinks by the sofa and patted the space next to her. ‘Come and sit here.’

Leo came over like a dog that’s been scolded, and then approaches its owner with caution. Mattie immediately pulled him close, so he could put his head on her shoulder and drape his arm around her waist. She could feel the sinewy muscle under his skin, the determined strength inside, but he also felt strangely hollow, as if Mia’s passing had bereft him of substance.

He pulled his head up slightly, clearly wanting to talk, but she stroked his hair and said ‘shhh’, holding him like that for some time. There would be time to talk later, in the fullness of day. Now, they both needed comfort.

…

They awoke later to a quiet, if not tranquil, house, dazed by a lack of decent sleep and besieged by conflicting emotions. Mattie couldn’t even remember when, or how, they’d got to bed.

‘What time is it?’ asked Leo groggily.

‘Mid-afternoon.’

‘I should get up. There will be more news today. Protests, perhaps. Pro-synth rallies. I can go there and…’ Leo made to get out of bed and started to pull on his joggers.

‘Don’t,’ said Mattie. ‘Don’t.’ She’d propped herself up on one elbow, speaking quietly but clearly. ‘You don’t always have to do this.’

‘What?’ Leo looked confused. He was so trammelled into acting this way, he didn’t always see the propellant force of his own actions.

‘You know. Galloping in, like some kind of Don Quixote, charging at windmills.’ Mattie tried not to sigh. This conversation had played out far more positively in her head.

‘I’m trying to help!’ argued Leo, clearly hurt by what he saw as an absurd comparison.

‘Then help yourself. All they will see is a human man, a synth supporter. Then they will take you in, question you, find out who you are. An Elster.’

‘Yes. An Elster. Mia’s brother,’ Leo said quietly.

‘And David’s son,’ Mattie countered.

Leo sat back down on the edge of the bed, his passion gradually subsiding. He silently considered Anatole’s words about his nature: _‘barely’_ human. David’s progeny; Mia’s kin. Human-synth.

‘I’m sorry I ran away,’ he said plaintively, turning to Mattie and trying to gauge her reaction. ‘I was in a bit of shock I guess… about the baby. I’m scared to be a repeat of my father. But I also think it’s the most wonderful thing.’

Mattie sat up in bed, her fingers gripping the edge of the duvet to pull it round her shoulders. She remembered Niska’s words about their daughter, what she was, and what she could become, until it was a mess of thoughts and emotions. She didn’t want to tell Leo – _couldn’t_ tell him, at least not yet. Wasn’t he dealing with enough, without this being poured on top of the emotional pile?

‘It’s not that,’ she responded instead. ‘It’s just: you can’t keep disappearing like that. Going off on crazy missions, like you’re the synth crusader. I get that it’s important to you and why, I really do. But there are other things that are important too.’ She stopped herself from saying _‘you have other responsibilities now’_ , partly because it would sound whiny and cliched, but also because she hoped he’d read into her words.

‘OK. I promise.’ Leo grinned wanly, and clambered back into bed, pulling off the covers beside her so that they could sit side by side. He asked her cheekily: ‘Better now?’

Mattie laughed. Trust Leo to diffuse a heavy situation with humour. It was hard to stay serious, but she still needed to say some things that weighed on her. ‘Leo… we both need to think before we act. Especially now. We’re both a bit too headstrong.’

‘A _bit_?’ echoed Leo. ‘Well, at least you’re not impetuous, like the synth crusader here.’

‘Really? What about when I revived Mia? What about the mega-catastrophe _that_ catapulted? I can never absolve myself of that.’

‘Giving Mia life again was a purely emotional decision, but I wouldn’t call it being impetuous. You were being entirely human: saving someone you knew and loved.’ Leo spoke softly, the name ‘Mia’ causing him to retract again into memories.

Mattie shook her head. Whenever she thought about Day Zero; about her culpability, she shuddered inside. The incessant broadcasting of all those human deaths was now a strident memory that she couldn’t erase. And Mia – what use was it having saved her once, twice, if she would then become a martyr for a movement that might not succeed?

She looked over at Leo and knew he was thinking about Mia too. She saw it many times over the coming days; a muted, forlorn expression that was a mixture of old memories and new grief. The Mattie she’d been before would be coming up with ways to revive Mia right now: she’d see resurrection and root code re-booting as the immediate, obvious solution. But the post-Zero Mattie wanted to pause and think first: consider the consequences of whatever actions they took.

‘You shouldn’t worry, you know,’ she ventured, cuddling close to him. ‘About being a father. You’ve had so many examples of good parenting – the qualities you need – that weren’t your father’s example.’

Leo smiled reflectively. ‘That’s true, I guess.’

‘Your need to do what’s right; your wish to help save others – that’s classic Mia. And your smile? When you smile, I see Max’s brother; I see him in you. And your passion and conviction come from Niska.’

‘Not forgetting my sarcasm,’ added Leo in amusement. He wasn’t used to compliments from girls, so Mattie saying all this made him blush. ‘I could say the same of you.’

‘What? That I’m sarcastic?’ joked Mattie.

‘No. That you’re beautiful, inside and out.’

‘Yeuch. Cheeeee-sy.’ Mattie was affected by his words too, but she didn’t let herself show it. She wasn’t the type to blush or giggle. Instead she snuggled down, safe in the duvet fort again, but not alone any more.

No more words for now. But there was still too much unspoken: too much they kept from one another. All to protect each other, of course. Those unspoken words would need to be voiced, sooner or later.

In this in-between time, she was content to experience their mutual support and… _something else_ too. Not the L-word, she didn’t dare to even peep in its direction. That would be a small-but-significant set of words to be spoken in future, when they had spent more time without their relationship on fast-forward.

The _something else_ was this easy intimacy. It was natural, it was equal; it was longed for since she’d sat by Leo and talked to him day after day. It was being with someone, rather than without them. What was the song she’d listened to over and over last year? _‘When you're gone … all the lights go out.’_ That was it. Leo being gone was like all light extinguished.

They were a pair now, a partnership. A three. They needed to stay together, no matter what happened.

And a lot was about to happen.

**Author's Note:**

> • The fic title and quoted lyric ‘when you’re gone…’ are from Dua Lipa’s ‘Be The One’  
> • The time on Mattie’s phone clock when she wakes up is ‘4:01’ = series 4, episode 1 :)  
> • Max’s line to Mattie about Leo: ‘Look after him’ reflects all the times Mia told Max the same thing.  
> • Mattie’s words to Leo: ‘Your need to do what’s right…’ deliberately echo Leo’s words to Karen/Beatrice about humanity in s1.


End file.
